Dusk to Dawn
by Elvyn-Light
Summary: He gave her her first taste of pain, and she gave him his last.


**Summary: **He gave her her first taste of pain, and she gave him his last. Suzu reflects on the toughest time of her life and those yet to come. (Spoilers for Suzu's sidequest or the end of the OVA.)  
**Rating: **K+ for slight violence.  
**Disclaimer**: The Tales of Symphonia characters and previous plot belong to Namco & Kosuke Fujishima. I own only the plot of this story.

* * *

**_Dusk to Dawn_**

Midnight fell over the hidden village of Japoni. Not a sound drifted through the moonlit air, save the near-silent, steady padding of boots. One of the villagers, clad in a deep, dusky red, made her way between the wooden houses.

Perhaps if someone had seen her, they would have scolded her for making even the softest of noises. But Suzu Fujibayashi did not preoccupy herself with such thoughts. Her _ninjatou _lay safely over her right shoulder, and every so often, she felt the cold blades of her _shuriken_ bounce against her skin. No one—at least, no outsider—would see her. And if they did, they would quickly come to regret it.

_"The witness must pay the price."_

Besides, Suzu was not one to be careless. Nothing she did was without reason, and, as far as the village was concerned, she always acted for the right ones. Amber eyes hardened as Suzu passed under the _torii_.

A shiver ran up her spine with her first step into the shrine area. Instinctively, Suzu swiveled around, rapidly scanning her surroundings. Nimble hands prepared to sign _Raiden_. Her muscles tensed as the moments passed. One, two, three—

An owl hooted ten feet above her. Suzu looked up, and the bird's piercing gaze connected with her own. Slowly, she relaxed, as much as a ninja can afford to relax. Cursing herself for her hasty fear, she walked onward. The owl took flight with a rustle of leaves.

Tiny stone lanterns stood watch on each side of the cobblestone path. After hesitating for a moment, Suzu drew a handful of throwing stars. With one swift movement, they scattered into the _toro_.

"_Flare Blitz_," Suzu muttered.

Small fires burst to life, casting light onto the path. The ninja stared into the minuscule blazes as if hypnotized. _Perhaps that was a mistake_, her conscience, which always told her off for straying from training, nagged. _You've just given away your location._

"I...want them to know...I..." Suzu's voice faltered; yet as she waited for a reprimand, her internal haggler had muted itself. She stepped forward waveringly. The path had never seemed this long before. Nor so dark...

The bushes nearby rustled against a faint gust of wind. Suzu almost regretted lighting the lanterns now.

Several minutes of shuffling later, she arrived at the miniature stream running through the village. Crouching, the ninja tugged off her gloves and pulled her sleeves up to the elbows. Carefully, she immersed her fingertips in the _chouzuya_, gently cleansing them in the chilly brook. Then, taking the dipper lying on the bank, she rinsed her mouth with water. When finished with the purification ritual, she clenched her gloves in her hands and crossed the bridge to the main shrine.

Suzu crept up the several steps, removing her shoes as she reached the "foyer." She bowed slowly and moved on to the inner room. Afraid to disturb anything, she hoped her presence was understood.

She dropped softly to her knees and stared straight ahead at the rice paper wall. Minutes went by. Finally, the taciturn girl spoke.

"Fujibayashi Dozo. Fujibayashi Okiyo—"

As if someone were watching her, Suzu dropped her face forward, burying her face in her knees. Her eyes burned. She bit her trembling lower lip and felt the metallic taste of blood on her tongue. But the slight pain pulsing through her lower jaw was nothing compared to the struggle their absence had left her.

"I remember the first time I cried like this," Suzu whispered to the darkness, wiping her face as she regained her composure. The rice paper lanterns were lit now and cast dancing shadows upon her figure. The ninja had grown much, both physically and mentally, since the catastrophic events nine years prior; her figure more voluptuous and elegant, her mind and body trained to react at the slightest provocation.

But the distance she had traveled could not erase her beginning. She smiled faintly, a bittersweet sight.

"I was only six then. Do you remember?"

--

Young Suzu's grin rivaled the sunshine as a slight wind ruffled through her hair. She was laughing, running around a forest clearing in apparent delight, save the occasional tumble.

"Mama, papa! Come watch!" Suzu shouted into the forest depths. Her mother and father sat on the clearing's edge, her mother mending something—Suzu's clothes, no doubt—and her father observing with barely stifled pride.

"Look at me!" the brunette ninja insisted, and after ensuring she had captivated her desired audience, clenched her eyes shut in fierce concentration. Suddenly—pop! Suzu disappeared.

Dozo Fujibayashi lived up to his position: he was an excellent actor, and when he saw his daughter vanish, a look of pure horror crossed his face. "Oh no! Where's my little Suzu?"

A squeal emanated from the center of the clearing, and Okiyo pretended to ignore the tiny footsteps in the grass, the telltale giveaway of an invisible ninja's presence. As her father looked around exaggeratedly, mock-examining each nook and cranny of the tree, Suzu tackled him.

"Gotcha!" she screamed as Dozo fell flat on his back. She reappeared full of glee as she straddled his stomach, clutching her own as she giggled uncontrollably.

"You think so? Well...I got _you_!" her papa called back, launching a surprise tickle attack on Suzu's sides. The two cackled for what seemed like ages, until abruptly, Dozo sat up. Suzu rolled off her father's stomach into a sitting position.

"What's wrong, papa?"

An ebony-clad ninja stood next to Okiyo, whispering something important into her ear. The stranger looked stern; Okiyo, frightened. Having delivered his message, the ninja hopped into the tree and was gone. Okiyo, pale, turned to Dozo, and an unspoken conversation passed between them. All traces of joy gone, Dozo got to his feet.

"...papa?" Suzu glanced up at her father, a formidable sight even without all his mission gear.

"Get up, Suzu."

She obeyed instantly, despite wondering what had happened to her father's smile. He paid no notice. "Today, we will practice the art of flight."

"I'm gonna learn how to fly!" she squealed, nearly clapping her hands; but one fierce look from her father and her excitement drained instantly.

Dozo crouched low. "As I taught you before." Suzu mirrored his behavior. _Just like earlier_. One, two, SPRING.

How she loved that feeling of freedom, the temporary release from gravity her _ninjutsu _allowed. Everything was going as planned; in seconds she would reconnect with the earth, but she could just do it again, just fly up into that deep blue sky—

_WHUMP_.

"Aaaaaah!"

Suzu cried out as she flew backwards, watching everything before her grow rapidly smaller before _WHAM_, she collided with a tree.

"DOZO!"

Okiyo rushed over to her daughter, simultaneously reaching into her robes to procure an apple gel. "Why did you—how could you—!" Her husband silenced her, restraining his wife with one outstretched arm as Suzu struggled to fight the unconscious haze clouding the edges of her vision. Tears dripped down her cheeks as she tried to lift her head, only to see her parents standing before her. Although it seemed her father, too, was on the brink of emotion...

--

"There was no compassion in your eyes...then. But I... I had to... I had to do it... I couldn't—couldn't betray the village," Suzu mourned quietly. "I had to—have to uphold my honor..."

_"I am the last of the five trials. If you defeat me, you will complete your training. If not, you will be proven an amateur. In any case, first you must answer this question. If you are assigned to kill your parents, can you so?"_

_"Kill my—ah! But—!"_

_"Answer the question! If it is your mission, will you do so?"_

_Silence. Then:_

_"If my mission demands it of me... then...yes."_

She breathed in deeply, meditating for several minutes. In. Out. _Whoosh. _In. Out. _Whoosh_. In. Out. _Whoosh_.

"Who, who."The owl had perched on the shrine's railing and now titled its head at Suzu questioningly. "Who."

Had she been a more temperamental girl, perhaps Suzu would have replied, "not you."

The lantern light went out.

Suzu lifted her eyes to the sky outside, absentmindedly grasping her left arm, graced with a three-inch-long ivory scar. And she thought, to whomever was listening:

"But I forgive you. You taught me what I know now. You... gave me the first taste of pain. And you...gave me my first breath of life. I understand now. And... I hope I haven't disappointed you. I can't let Japoni down. And maybe I'll change those training procedures for the better.

And laughter shouldn't be a sign of weakness.

And miso shouldn't be so expensive.

And the occasional dessert should be permitted.

And... nobody should have to... fight the ones I did."

_Plink, plonk._

The ninja was startled out of her reverie by the first drops of an outburst. Rain began cascading down the shrine's grooved roof, falling in determined rivulets to the ground below. Suzu stood up, left the room, put on her boots, and went to stand on the porch. Protectively, she withdrew a small tablet from her robes and clasped it between her two hands.

She closed her eyes as the rain poured.

The lightning flashed.

And the ninja disappeared.

Her temporary companion, the owl, fluttered over the dropped _ema _as if to shelter it from the storm. On the wooden block was a child's drawing, a picture of a family, mother, father, and daughter. A rainbow spanned a blue background above them.

A more mature script covered the empty space on the tablet.

_Mama and Papa,_

_thank you._

FIN

* * *

**Author's Note: **I wrote this several months ago and originally wanted to draw a companion artwork to accompany it. Recently, however, I realized that if I wait for the art, this fic would never be uploaded. In any case, I hope you enjoyed this bit of Suzu backstory. It was written for a Secret Santa challenge with the prompt "Something Suzu-related. She gets no love D :." Hopefully, this fic gave the little ninja the attention she deserves!

Care to review? Phantasia needs all the love it can get.


End file.
